The image above shows the mark II of their design. Sadly they crashed the first version, which gave them a chance to overhaul the entire design. Now they have a proper frame which was welded from steel square tube. It’s got an impressive rack and pinion steering system and shock absorbing suspension in the front and rear. A dirt bike engine mounted behind the seats drives the rear wheels via a chain. They’ve used an Arduino to add turn signals, and have headlights for night driving.

[Gerrit] sent in the tip on this one and he figures that with an Arduino already being used in the vehicle it should be a quick fix to add a speedometer and get back on the road.

equipment required seems to depend on what state you’re in. in new york, a speedometer is not required equipment. in fact, i’ve driven several cars with broken speedometers and no one ever brought it up as being a problem.

i think the cop was looking for some way to justify pulling them over.

I know a guy who got pulled over for having a cracked windshield. Cop told him he couldn’t drive it that way. So he removed the windshield (with a hammer I believe), put on a pair of goggles, and was able to drive away legally.

maybe because you were driving a “real” car, that from factory comes with speedometer and all the other required safety devices? Seeing wooden go-cart on the road, im not surprised that they got stopped by cops.

I’m actually been told that some home EV conversions do just that. Many times the speedometer stops working after removing the gas engine as the ECU goes nuts. They just slap a TomTom on the dash and call it a day!

“Officers from the province Noord Holland pulled over and taken a DIY wooden cabrio from the highway.

Two boys of 17 years old drove the ‘car’ through Lokkemientjesweg in Edam when the police pulled them over. They were doing 40km/h (25MPH).
A police spokesman of Zaanstrak-Waterland told that the boys have been wokring on the car for a long time, but it’s not suited for the public road. The car runs on a cross motor engine.
The car has been pulled of the road due to a missing speedometer and no indicator lights (these are obliged in The Netherlands). Furthermore the boys had no a driving license.
It’s undecided what will happen to the car (to be destroyed or give it back – so they can use it on closed terrain only).”

I like their back license plate at this picture: “Danger on the road”
Oh, and the car even runs Windows XP:

As for the speedometer, mine was broken and I needed a way of knowing how fast I was going. So I took my evo that had a broken USB port, soldered on a cable, and mounted it front of my speedometer, loaded up a speed app (utilizing gps) and viola.

You are joking, right?
I came to write complete opposite. First suspension was made with one flat piece of sheet metal. In new design they used square tubing (solid), BUT it still goes down to sheet metal and something that looks like furniture hinges? This is one pot hole from losing a wheel.

Furniture hinges? The hell are you talking about?
This thing’s chassis is made out of steel, except for the “hub” part of the wheel which looks like painted iron. The steel is TIG welded too, not some cheap ass stick welding.

They can’t get it street legal in Nederland,unless they manage to somehow get a License with 50cc engine similar to Golf Carts and small vehicles,those doesn’t require as much stupid useless details as those they ask for actual specialty built cars and such.

I believe they can get it back with no problem if they say that it was not made to be driven on public roads and they only wanted to test it outside their house,but doing so they got lost so they had to drive it back.

If they ever get in Noord Brabant they can drop off with it by Milo in Het Sas and have tons of funs and much road to enjoy it,his channel on Youtube is MasterMilo82.

The Dutch police have a policy of verbally pointing out many things that are wrong, but then just writing you up for the one thing that is easy to prove.

So whereas these guys were caught with a car without type approval, without fenders etc etc, the fact that the didn’t have a drivers licence and that they don’t have a spedometer, is very easy to prove in court and wont give any discussions.

Get a $10 lcd bike speedometer and some cheap amber/red trailer lights from harbor freight and its done. For fenders, cut sections out of a 55 gallon drum. It probably will need seat belts, windshield wipers, and a horn as well. But it’s very close. It’s really not that bad.

Thumbs up for the effort. I also applaud choice of wood as body material. This can be easily worked even in 3rd world countries. For city driving bellow 60 km/h, this thing should be ok. With turning lights of course.

No offence but what you say sounds like total Non Sense or you have too much expectations on a fun project that two 17yo guys started in their garage…. Or just don’t know how the deal with Homemade Vehicles goes.

2) If you build a single car for your self (Specialty Constucted Vehicle) you have to follow a Standards Booklet,but you don’t need Airbags,and they don’t ask you for crash testing,nowhere,never.

And more specifically…

In Europe the countries with TUV stink,they play it ALL Car Safety yet their drivers keep their Fatal Accident Rate on Top.
So just forget it unless it’s a commercial Kit Car.

In UK their SVA is amazing,you can get Registration way easier if you have a properly made car,you have to follow the latest SVA Booklet,you wont pass this Wooden Cart though,but if you get to a good SVA center they will help a lot.

As for if those guys were in the US instead of Nederland,in some states they could get normal registration with the car as it is,with a few additions like parking brake,seat belts,etc.

The 2 teens gave up the car so they don’t get fined for driving without license, without insurance and driving a vehicle that hasn’t been approved for the road. So they didn’t have to pay, but loose the car on which they worked 1,5 years.

The car is not destroyed but gets a second life as a display at a school where they teach vehicle engineering.